Change
by turquoiserainlilies
Summary: Lily Evans doesn't like change, but even she's got to admit that not all of them are bad.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter universe, characters, setting, or world, the only thing I guess I kind of own are my worlds, and the plot.

* * *

Spring and summer meant beginnings, the opening of flower buds, the grass greening on the Hogwarts ground, and the return of creatures from the Forbidden Forest. From the windows of the seventh grade Gryffindor girl's dorm, Hagrid could be seen pulling out a giant makeshift grass clipper, tending to his garden, presumably planting his famous giant pumpkins for the next year's Halloween feast. With a sharp longing in Lily Evans's stomach, she realized that she wouldn't be here to see it. She half-heartedly settled down a red tie onto her bed, where a growing pile of scattered clothing laid, resolved to pack up later, and didn't dare to make a noise as she tipped toed across the room.

There were five beds in the dorm, but only four girls in Lily's year at Gryffindor, including herself. The bed closest to hers belonged to Marlene McKinnon, who stirred slightly in her sleep. Her princess curled blonde hairs was tied up in a ponytail, wild from a night of Quidditch playing most likely, though she technically wasn't on the team anymore. As she passed, Lily straightened out the stack of books that looked as if it was going to fall over any moment. _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven_, was opened to a page, detailing how to make pear-flavored radishes, left from the intense exam studying only a week before. Could that be right? Only a week before Lily's mind was on exams? Only a week before she still calling herself as a Hogwarts student. She remembered quizzing Marlene on this exact spell on the day of their Charms exam.

* * *

_"What's the spell to make a radish taste like a pear?" Lily asked impatiently, expecting the racing answer just as she would've done, but Marlene being Marlene, sighed deeply, making a huge show._

_"Is something bothering you Marley?" Lily looked up, unwillingly, from the book, "Other than the fact that our NEWT Charm Exam is in an hour?" She then looked to her watch, "Less than an hour."_

_"It's a stupid spell." Marlene grumbled, Lily didn't take it too hard, her Quidditch-loving friend was prone to criticizing every detail that wasn't fit to her desire, "If I wanted a pear, I would've just summon one from the grocery."_

_"Okay…" Lily said, "What's the spell to summon a pear?"_

_"I DON'T KNOW!" Marlene yelled, "I don't care! It's an old spell, I just don't think it's very practical, that's all!"_

_"_Old but gold_." Lily chirped her mantra, "Now come on Marley, let's squeeze in ten more questions before we start on Transfiguration, Emme is coming in a few moments, and that's her specialty."_

_"Is the great Lily Evans admitting to not be good at something?" Marlene gasped dramatically, though still obviously avoiding studying, "Are Slytherins handing out cupcakes in the Great Hall right now?"_

_Lily rolled her eyes, "I'm improving, all right? I can admit when I have a problem, and fix it."_

_"Took you three months to get with Potter when you finally figured out you like him." Marlene mumbled, though Lily pretended not to listen, and resolved to mentally quiz herself instead. Marlene played around with a loose snitch between her pointer finger and thumb until Emmeline Vance came through the portrait hole._

* * *

Lily looked to Emme now, her black hair ravenous and hide most of her face in the shadows, though not disguising her smeared lipstick quite well. She smiled fondly at the memory of the night before, the smuggled firewhiskey, the mysterious underwear, and the unlimited supply of treacle tart that seem to appear all over the Gryffindor common room, and Emme was in middle of it all. She was a darling friend, and most of the time, reasonable as well. Emme's one weakness was alcohol, evident by an empty glass bottle of violet drink on her bedside.

* * *

_"Lils!" Emme yelled from across the room. Lily was engaged in a discussion with Remus Lupin about their answers on the Transfiguration Exam (so it _had _been _Aguamenti_, not _Aguamentus_), when Emme bursted out laughing. If not for the fact that at least two thirds of the population was drunk, Lily would've felt a burning sense of second hand embarrassment for her friend._

_"Emme!" Lily couldn't help but to want to laugh at the sight of her, but it was due to a seven year friendship that made her face unmoving, "You look…"_

_"WONDERFUL!" Emmeline yelled, throwing her arms as they waved like boneless spaghetti, "Try this!"_

_"What is it?" Lily peered into the mysterious bottle of purple liquids, was something _moving_?_

_"No idea!" She giggled, though not uncharacteristically, but still unnerving, "Sirius nicked it for me, ain't he the sweet?"_

_"So sweet, it gives me a toothache." Remus said dryly, also not amused by the action of a friend. He and Lily exchanged worried glances, it wasn't that Sirius was irresponsible, he had been really good since sixth year, relatively speaking, at least, but to put it simply, if there was a bottle of firewhiskey at the breakfast table, he wouldn't think twice before gulping it down._

_"REMY!" Emme shouted above the noise coming from the stairs ("FREE-DOM! FREE-DOM! FREE-DOM!"), Lily could barely hear it, even if Emme had mistaken her for Remus and was screaming in her ears, "When did you get here Remy? Heh. I've always wanted to call you Remy."_

_"Woah!" Lily yelped as Emme crashed onto her shoulder, she wasn't a very big girl, Lily was just very small, "Remus!"_

_"On it." He shrugged the girl over her shoulder effortlessly, Lily wondered how he got so strong all of the sudden, wasn't Remus always a bookish person? "Ehh...I can't go into the girl's dorms."_

_"Just get Marley." Lily told him, "If she's still sober, she can drag Emme up, if not, I'll find more help."_

_With a nod, Remus left Lily along in the midst of the biggest party the Gryffindor dorms had ever seen. Lily wasn't sure how the poor little first years were feeling about it, perhaps intimidated (Frank Longbottom _was _a good 6 feet tall, but Lily knew him to be an absolute sweetheart), or perhaps curious at the commotion. How did she felt when she was a first year? Lily casted her mind back, it wasn't that long ago, right?_

_Suddenly, the noise of the room dimmed, as if she was suddenly realizing what the celebration was about. The last day of exams, and by extension, one of the last days at Hogwarts. Since when was Lily in the middle of the party, instead of dutifully trying to sleep up in the dorms like the other first years. When was she suddenly able to drink firewhiskey without an hour of persuasion from Marlene and Emme, and then looking both ways about fifty times for the sight of a teacher. When was she leaving? And how come she wasn't coming back?_

_"FREE-DOM!" The people at the stairs chanted loudly, amidst them was Sirius Black, ever the rebel as he wore his muggle clothing, leather against the cotton Hogwarts robes, looking half as badass as he thought he did, "FREE-DOM!"_

_"TO NO MORE SCHOOL!" Sirius celebrated, a swooshing glass of firewhiskey in the air._

_"FREE-DOM!"_

_No._

_"FREE-DOM!"_

_Lily didn't want this._

_"FREE-DOM1"_

_She didn't want to leave school, no, she can't-_

_"FREE-DOM!"_

_"Argh!" She yelled. Lily had been swimming around the crowd, aiming to get somewhere, perhaps the portrait hole for a bit of fresh air, perhaps her dorm where she could pretend to be a freaky first year again, but instead she bumped into someone._

_"James?" She looked up, smiling finally, "_James_."_

_"Hey Evans." He teased with her last name, though they were passed that since September, "You all right?"_

_"Fine." She said distractedly, rubbing her arms as if she was cold inside the burning fire of the Gryffindor common room._

_"Obviously not." James pointed at her hand, trying to rub off all the skin cells of her left arm, "Your tell, Lily, shivering when you're lying."_

_"I could just be cold." She argued, though not understanding the point of it._

_James's hazel eyes looked patronizingly at her, "Don't you think I know you better than that?"_

_She did, and he does. Without thinking, or worrying,Lily buried herself in her boyfriend's arm, breathing in a scent that only belonged to two things, a really good Amortentia potion, and James Potter. She didn't cry, Lily Evans doesn't do crying, but she did feel comforted by the small, incoherent murmurs James whispered into her ears._

_Since when had he became _James_, and not Potter?_

* * *

Lily shook her head out of her memories, which seemed to consume her of her actual purpose of the morning, to go for a tour of Hogwarts, the very one a Prefect had lead her through seven years ago, before any of her roommates woke up. Lily didn't felt like being badgered at the moment, this morning was supposed to belong to her and her thoughts, only, though she felt maybe she should've left the room _before _she started to flashback.

Her eyes gazed over to her last roommate, and bit her lips slightly. There was a _really _good memory that included Alice, one that she'd like to play over and over inside her head like she was rewinding the tape on a movie. It wasn't just Alice, but all her friends, a girl named Molly Weasley, and the infamous Marauders, but Alice Prewett was certainly a part of it. With a jot, she remembered that Alice wasn't Prewett anymore, she was Alice _Longbottom_. A different memory was evoked in her head.

* * *

_It was during the winter, on the day she always referred to as The Day That Everything Fell Into Place, like puzzle pieces, Alice found her other half in Frank, a fellow Gryffindor in their year, and had originally planned for a huge summer ceremony at Frank's family's manor, but the two were too in love and too eager, plus just a little bit anxious. What with the rising doom of a man that must not be named appearing, men in mask that took the fifth roommate out of her supposedly miserable existence, and disappearing muggles everywhere. Lily didn't blame Alice and Frank for wanting to get hitched so early, in fact, as it was The Day That Everything Fell Into Place, she wholeheartedly applauded it._

_They settled for a small wedding, first, go to the place in Hogsmeade that signs the forms, and then go out to have a fun day with their friends. There was almost no objection to the plan, the only disagreement was from Frank's mother, but no one really took that into heart. They could have a parade of elephants and twenty thousand bouquets of pure golden roses thrown at her feet, and Augusta Longbottom still wouldn't have thought it to be satisfactory._

_Lily was at Three Broomsticks, waiting with Emme and Marlene for the couple to emerge. It would've been a nice day, and weather wise, it was, but just as Lily touched down at their table with her Butterbeer, something else slid in opposite of her that was neither Emme nor Marlene._

_"_Potter_?" The name slipped out of her almost venomously, it did sound venomous, but she certainly didn't mean it like that, "I mean, James."_

_"Lily." His hazel eyes twinkled, Lily hated when he did that, it made her regret the last six years of her life, where every question James asked her was followed by a cruel _no _(_stupid, _stupid_, stupid)_._

_"You're waiting for Frank?" She asked, the same time he asked, "Are you waiting for Prewett?" They both laughed half-heartedly, then Marlene, Emme, and the rest of the Marauders stepped into the scene and it was a lot less awkward, except for when Lily would accidentally on purpose catch James's twinkly eyes (ugh, couldn't she come up with a better adjective than _twinkly?_). He laughed, she laughed, they _all _laughed._

_"It's nice to see people so in love." Emme smiled dreamily, trying to make eye contact with Sirius, but less successful than Lily had been, "And marrying! I know they're a bit young, but I mean, they deserve it, and just think of all the times ahead if they didn't, worrying left and right about whether or not the other is going to come home every night."_

_"Emme!" Marlene whacked her friend on the arm, "That's not pleasant! Don't talk like that!"_

_"What?" Emme shrugged it off, though Marlene's punches have been known to hurt, a lot, "It's a real issue, you know why they're taking so long? Half of the village is trying to get married these days, with Voldemort-" a hiss came from Pettigrew's mouth, but they all just ignored that "-as a threat and all, let's just be glad that Frank and Alice are actually in love."_

_"Yeah." Lily agreed, catching James's eyes again, "It's good to be in love."_

_Alice and Frank arrived a moment later, blushing from love and perhaps the cold as well. The entire table of seven cheered as the newly weds sat down. Alice's hand was shaking, a shining diamond gleamed as she reached for a glass of Butterbeer._

_"Merlins!" She cried, "I'm married!"_

_More cheering, congratulating, and all that stuff. It was very little one could do in the cramped space of Three Broomstick, but they managed to make so much noise that Rosmerta, the new barmaid, came over and handed them more Butterbeer, and on the house. They clinked their glass together, louder than the collective of everything else in the pub._

_Somehow, in the middle of all this shouting, Lily ended up next to James by a smaller table, with just two seats. She supposed she should've seen this coming, after Emme and Marlene giggled as they took Sirius and Remus' hand and sauntered to the opposite side of the room, looking extremely pleased, and not _just _because they have the second and third best looking guys in the pub on their hand. Lily awkwardly stared at James, and he awkwardly stared back. In case you didn't understand, this situation is kind of awkward. What should you talk about with the guy that you hated for your entire childhood but suddenly changed and became mature and stop being the general toerag that he always was and stopped asking you out every two seconds and now you found that you have an undying love for him, and trust you when you say it's undying because you've tried very hard to killed it and now you're stuck in front of him with Butterbeer and zero idea on what to say._

_"So…" James drawled out predictably, isn't this what _everyone _says during an awkward situation?_

_"Don't do that whole thing, it's weird." Lily deadpanned, "If you want to talk, just talk."_

_James smiled at her, though frankly a bit nervously, "Merlins, I'm going to sound like such a git in the next few minutes."_

_"Depends." Lily told him, "I'm an official James Potter git meter, let's hear it and decide."_

_He blushed slightly, though Lily told it off as it being cold, it was the winter in Scotland after all, "Evans, I mean, Lily, Merlins, I call you Lily all the time now, but with that...I don't know, weird habit, umm…" He was obviously rambling, and partly stalling too, "It's kind of out of the blue, or maybe not, not for me at least, I've been thinking about this since I was eleven, weird, I guess I developed really early or something, but it may be weird for you since it's kind of sudden and I'm really not a mind reader, I mean, if I was, I would've done this a lot faster, I probably should've learnt legilimency…"_

_"James." Lily said, "Get to the point, because the git meter is very unforgiving."_

_"Right." He exclaimed suddenly, making Lily jump slightly, "Lily Evans." He looked very serious, and now Lily was a little scared, because she's never seen him _this _serious before, "There's a question, a very serious one, and it's pretty simple too, I think so, I mean-"_

_"Tick tock, tick tock." Lily tapped at her wrist, even though there was no watch, "James, just ask the question."_

_He looked very red, then all of the sudden very pale. Lily was sure that in a novel, this would be the point where there was a lot of jumblingupalotofwordsintooneword and mumbling, but he seemed pretty sure when he asked, "Will you go out with me."_

_And she was just as sure when she said yes._

* * *

Lily smiled at that memory. The Day That Everything Fell Into Place. Frank and Alice Longbottom, James and _hopefully_-LilyPotter, both a two part puzzle that should've been solved a lot quicker, it was pretty easy, but the pieces had been scattered among an entire box of other two part puzzles. What matters, Lily knew, was that it was complete now.

Alice looked very peaceful in her sleep, not to say that she didn't look peaceful the other sixteen hours when she was awake, but sleeping makes people look a lot younger, _way _younger. Too young to be married, that's for sure, but the huge diamond at her ring finger stated otherwise. Alice _Longbottom_, it's been six months, but that phrase was still weirdly uncomfortable around her tongue, not to say that it didn't fit, but that it fitted too well, the whole two part puzzle thing again, too good and beautiful, too perfect, and very tempting for fate to ruin it.

She decided that it was finally time to stop diddling around the dorm any more, she spent quite a long time reminiscent in the part of the castle she's been to most, maybe when she made it down to the potions dungeon, she wouldn't have any good memories left at all. Lily stepped out of the dorm, quickly shutting the door behind her to give her three roommates some deserved sleep. The exams were just done, after all, they shouldn't have to worry about anything until they come in a while later, because them, unlike her, were extremely good at not worrying. Lily did that enough for all four of them, and if Mary was still here, all five.

She reached down to the common room, a party still evident, as she tried to imagine McGonagall's face when she sees all these, the stern expression was suddenly so real that she immediately started cleaning up. Broken glass bottles, mysterious articles of clothing, a ripped up red Quidditch uniform with the word BLACK across the back (sadly, Lily thought as she threw that into the garbage pile, Sirius wouldn't ever need to play Quidditch ever again, not in this uniform), and general litter in the form of loose parchment and empty ink jars. Lily was so wrapped up in her cleaning, it was to her great surprise that there was a pair of hands on her waist.

"_STUPEFY_!" She shouted hurriedly, the spell shot out before her attacker could react, "_James_?" Oh Merlins, it was her _boyfriend_, she just stunned her _boyfriend_. It's a shame, that was such a good stunner, and she had to go and wasted on James, and not an actual criminal.

She quickly did the counterspell, as James rubbed his right shoulder, trying to get the feeling of life back to it, "Merlins Lily! Tell me you got an O in Defense."

"Still don't have the results." The remainder of NEWTs gave Lily a sudden chill, the imaginary flame in her, lit by the adrenaline of attacking, was blew out by the word, "I hope I did well."

James snorted, "You're Lily Evans, I'm James Potter, we're wizards, and you just aced that exam."

Lily smiled, Marlene would've just told her to suck it up, Emme would try to change the topic, and Alice was too sweet to do something other than let Lily vent out her feelings, but James always made her feel better. He _did _know her alarmingly well.

It made her feel better that she knew him to, including the fact that the normal weekend James Potter wouldn't get out of bed until noon.

"You're up early." She noted.

"So are you." James's eyes did _not _twinkle, but was instead thoughtful and deep, as if he was the one who woke up half an hour ago and got lost in memory, "Breakfast doesn't start for another hour at least."

"Couldn't sleep." Which was true. She woke up at four, thanks to an internal alarm that she didn't know she had, thinking that she forgot that today was her History of Magic exam, before remembering that it was last Tuesday, and then tried in vain to count sheep and all that other stuff. She wished that she knew a sleeping spell, one that didn't send its victim into coma, at least. She would drift off into half-consciousness before something, NEWT result, or the End of the Year Feast, would send her into that bundle of nerves and stress eating.

"Me neither." James plopped down onto one of the loveseats by the unlit fire, it was too summery and too warm for that, "You wanna talk?"

"_Always_." Lily replied, curling up next to him like a cat, she was fond of cats, perhaps she would get one in the future, after all, there wasn't too much to do after Hogwarts, "I've been thinking…"

"Like usual." She can hear him grin, that's how much she knew him, "Watcha thinkin; about?"

"Ending, change, stupid philosophical stuff." Lily blew at her bangs, James threw an arm around her shoulder, so now she was tracing weird shapes onto his calloused hands, worked from being a Chaser, "You know, whatever a witch thinks when they leave Hogwarts."

"We've got a few days." James said lazily, though there was a hint of something else in his voice, his tell, that made Lily knew that he was nervous too, "Few days to lounge around while the underclassmen finish up their tests."

"They've got tests, we've had _exams_." Lily sighed, "It's huge! This is huge! A giant, almost permanent part of my life is ending." She turned up to look him in the eye, "_It's the end of an era_!" She cried as if she was Marlene, and enjoyed the sound of her boyfriend's laughter, "If you're not going to take this seriously…"

"I am!" James shut the laughing at once, "Merlins Lily, I am, honestly!"

"I know." She smiled, her head hit his shoulder perfectly, reminding her of her perfect metaphor with the puzzles, "But it is, the end of an era, I guess, a whole _seven years _of our life, just _gone_." She didn't cry, but it was the closest she had gotten, "That's _scary_."

"You don't like changes?" James asked rhetorically, he knew, of course, but he also wanted to hear her say it.

"Hate it." She mumbled, "Resent it, burn it with a thousand flames and not even bothering to throw a funeral for it afterwards."

"Always check for a body." James played with the ends of her red curls absentmindedly, "Padfoot and I learnt that the hard way."

"_James_!"

"Sorry." He let go of the curls, though that wasn't what Lily minded, "I mean, there's gotta be some changes that weren't bad."

"Name it." Lily challenged, leaning up from his shoulder so that they were facing each other, willing her green eyes to turn intense as she stared him down.

James grinned a the challenge, "How about when you got your letter? From just Lily, the boring muggle, to Lily Evans, witch extraordinaire."

"That was good." Lily smiled fondly at the image of her Hogwarts letter, parchment and sealed with a red wax, Lily didn't even know anyone who used _red wax_, so that was a good sign, "Nearly torn apart my family though, mind you, Petunia still wouldn't stay in the same room as my spell books, as if they're going to jump up and turn her into a frog."

"Then Mr. Vermin can kiss her." James laughed, "It'll be so horrid, they'll both turn into frogs."

Lily laughed as well, their laughter mixing together like a Cheering Potion. Petunia was her _sister_, but Lily wasn't sure if they were family anymore, "That wasn't the perfect change." She told him, "Think of another one."

James thought, "When you ended it with Snivellus, I thought it was great."

Lily gave him a trying look, "I'm not objecting to stun you again, you know."

He held up a hand of surrender, "Sorry Lils." He said sheepishly, "I blurt out random stuff, but you love that, _right_?" His last word sounded so insecure, after all, he had been going after the girl for nearly seven years before she said yes, that's got to put a damper on his self-esteem, if not for that fact that James was such a self-confident individual, he would've turned to just like the meek little Pettigrew, no, little slips like this happens, and _only _happens, when they were alone, and talking about really serious stuff.

"Right." She told him, the thought of Sev-no, Snape-still hurt, but she still had James, and Marlene, and Emme and Alice and Frank, that's got to count for something, besides, she decided a long time ago that she wasn't to concern herself with what Snape was up to, it was easier on everyone.

"Last try." Lily told James, "A change that is good, something new that didn't turn out to be disastrous."

James was quiet for five minutes, while Lily busied herself with trying to memorize every single part of the Gryffindor Tower. She was never going to be here again, was she? Never to sit in this love seat with James and talk about nothing yet everything for hours, never to revise last minute Charms helplessly with Marlene, never going to drag Emme up to the dorm after she partied one party too hard, never to consult Alice on what to do with Frank, even if Lily wasn't a boy expert herself, never to catch Sirius with some poor fourth year girl in a secluded corner, never to exchange Arithmancy notes with Remus, never, ever.

A certain sadness filled Lily, longing so hard that she thought it would pull right out of her heart. She just wanted, wanted to stay. It's hard to do something, people say, to make a difference in the world and to take action or something, but all Lily wanted was to stay, that can't be too hard. If she can just stay, with James, right here, this moment, take a photograph and live there forever…and as foolish and cliche as it sounds, she'd do it, in a heartbeat.

"What about when you met me,?" James finally spoke, "That was a good change, right?" an then at her silence, "I meant that actual meeting, not that little skirmish at the train. How about that?"

* * *

_"I'm Molly Weasley, Gryffindor prefect." She had a head of red hair that competed with Lily's, maybe that's why she liked this girl so much, or maybe Molly just gave off an incredibly calming and nurturing aura, "We'll be taking a tour of Hogwarts shortly. Though you've all met at the sorting last night, this could also be a good chance to meet some of your classmates, talk around for a bit as I lead you through our halls."_

_Lily's head turned as Molly's eyes seem to zoom to one spot particularly, towards her, except that Lily wasn't making any noise or gesture, so it must be from behind her. She turned to find a eleven year old boy, also in bright red tie and wore a perpetually goofy grin, Lily had some sort of recollection of him from yesterday, but it wasn't strong, nor was it good, judging by the sudden lurch of her stomach, "Isn't your last name Prewett or something?"_

_"Not anymore." Molly grinned, there was a glitter at her hand as she turned, "Follow me, we'll be taking a shortcut to the Transfiguration wing…"_

_Lily was satisfied with Molly's response, but the boys behind her were still mumbling._

_"What did she mean '_not anymore_'?" The goofy kid whispered, "Did she change her name?"_

_"She couldn't have." Another kid whispered back, "Trust me, I've wanted to change my name forever, still a Black though."_

_"Tough luck Sirius." The third boy joined in, "As for James, did you ever consider the fact that she might've gotten married?"_

_"_Married_!" James said with surprise, "You've got to change your name when you're married? That settles it, I'm never dating anyone."_

_"Speak for yourself." Sirius snorted, "Check out the girl in front of us, the red-head."_

_Lily suddenly felt her backside froze, she stopped in the middle of the hallway, the group of boys bumped into her so that she almost fell, but someone-James, she guessed-caught her from behind. She quickly brushed him off. Sirius whispered a swear word that should not be uttered by a eleven year old, then again, he should also not be thinking of dating when he was eleven._

_"Sorry?" She said quickly, a few kids glanced, but Molly was unaware, "What red-head?"_

_"You red-head." Sirius said unashamedly, "Eavesdropping are we?"_

_"No, just happen to hear your annoying voice." Lily stood defyingly, "Trust me, I rather not listen to the conversation, but sadly, we're housemates."_

_Sirius nodded, "Respect."_

_"What does that even mean?" James spoke up, at least, Lily thought it was James, he had messy black hair and glasses, right? "You can't just randomly say respect to random strangers."_

_"I'm Lily Evans." She said suddenly, "We're not strangers, and he should respect me."_

_"So you're on his side now?" James turned onto her._

_"I knew this was a bad idea." The third boy sighed deeply, "Remus Lupin, in case anyone is still interested."_

_Lily ignored the Remus boy, though at least he was being more civil than James and Sirius combined, "And what's your name? Bigot MacGit?"_

_"Original." James said wryly, "James Potter, by the way, you've just been graced with my name."_

_"The entire Great Hall was 'graced by your name'_ _last night at the sorting." Lily said coolly._

_"Then maybe you should've remembered it!"_

_"You expect me to remember forty names in one night? I'm not Einstein, you know."_

_"Who's Einstein?"_

_"Scientist, German, dropped out of school." Remus piped up with his ever supply of reason, "James-"_

_"I can't believe you don't know who Albert Einstein is!" Lily cried, her face as red as her hair, "You're such an idiot!"_

_"Know-it-all!"_

_"Toerag!"_

_"Prissy!"_

_"_Potter_!" Lily yelled, finally out of insult and energy, that's when she realized that the remaining Gryffindor first years were staring over at the two, along with Molly Weasley, who looked at them with a mixture of amusement, surprise, and disappointment, a very odd combination actually…_

_"Lily, James." She said simply, not mad or anything, but not extremely happy either, "Come on, we're going to the Charms corridor next."_

_Lily was fuming, but she turned onto her heel, feeling with satisfaction as her long, swingy red hair hit James Potter in the face, he deserved that. She joined the swarm of four girls, looking over at her with a new recognition._

_"That was awesome!" A brunette girl whispered meekly._

_"Thanks." Lily flushed, "I'm Lily Evans, but I guess you knew that."_

_"Mary MacDonald." She said, barely a whisper, "I'm a Muggle-born, it's kind of tough for me here, I don't know any magic. I've heard the Potters are a very old wizarding family from Godric's Hollow, all _purebloods_!" Her eyes widened with fear and excitement, "You think they'll know magic than me?"_

_"Of course not!" Lily protested, "Look, I'm a Muggle-born too, and you better bet that I'm going to do more magic than Potter. I swear, I'll stay in the library for the next seven year if I have to!"_

_"You're very determined." Another girl, blacked hair, pixie cut and framed around her round face, "Kind of scary, maybe?" She smiled gently, "Alice Prewett, by the way, I'm sort of Molly's third cousin or something."_

_Alice and Molly looked nothing alike, but Lily knew from personal experience with Petunia that genes count for almost nothing when it comes to appearances, and apparently abilities as well._

_"Cool." Two other girls joined their group and introduced themselves as Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon. They chattered as they followed Molly into the Charms corridor, four out of five forgetting the incident moments before, and acted as if they had been friends forever, but Lily felt the pressure of James Potter's eyes, boring into her red hair. Her hands formed a fist, as she swore, she _will _be better than him, at school, at magic, at _everything.

* * *

"It was a good change." Lily told him, "Great, if I get that O in Defense, it's kind of owed to you."

James looked somewhat surprised, but still smiling as he closed the gap between their foreheads, "No job would turn you down." He said, "Lily Evans, Auror or Ministry Worker or Healer, anything and _everything_."

"I don't know." Lily said, laughing shakily, "I haven't really gave myself permission to think about _after _Hogwarts, I kind of figure that I would stay with my parents." She wrinkled her nose, "Though there's Petunia's wedding, and that's not very pleasant."

James was quiet again, but that didn't scare Lily too much, it meant that he was thinking, and she found thinking to be very beneficial, "What if you move out?"

Lily snorted, "Where? London? I don't even have any money, galleons or otherwise."

"Not London." His hazel eyes were staring into her green eyes intently, she had rarely seen him this serious, except for once, when he asked her a _very _important question, "What about Godric's Hollow?"

Silence.

"Lily?"

More silence.

"Lily." James removed himself from her forehead, "Are you awake?" He laughed slightly, she could hear the nervousness behind them, "Alive? Hopefully?"

"_Godric's Hollow_?" Her throat felt very dry, "You mean, where you-"

"-live." James finished her sentence, "Yeah." He smiled at her, leaning closer again, "What do you say?"

Yes, of course, no problem, I'm going to pack right now and send an owl to my parents, then regular mail to Petunia so she won't be this grumpy so close to her wedding, and _I do_, Lily thought feverishly, "With you?" She asked instead, "Like, in your house? With your parents?"

"Or another place." James said quickly, as if Lily saw Mr. and Mrs. Potter as anything other than a delight, "We could get our own house, I mean, and…"

"Yes!" She said, all the breath knocked out of her, "Obviously, okay, umm…" Lily looked down for a moment, "Every affirmative word there is in every dictionary ever."

James looked relieved, as if she was actually going to turn _him_ down, "Yeah, all right then." He took some deep breath, "Wow, I just…"

"Yeah." Lily said. There seemed to be a lot of filler words just thrown around, she guessed that's what people did when they are at a lost for words, that was accurate, she was speechless...

After another ten minutes of shaking laughter and a lot of hugging, they seemed to finally get their tongue back, "It's a _big _change though, you know." James grinned widely, teasing her as he leaned in again.

"I'm getting use to them." Lily shrugged, and kissed him, both of them wearing a huge silly grin that they also often mocked Alice and Frank for.

It was seven in the morning, she was Lily Evans, he was James Potter, they were wizards, and both aced their NEWTs almost too perfectly, everything was almost too perfect, and very tempting for fate to ruin it. Spring and summer meant beginnings, the reappearance of birds who flew south, blossoming of flowers of all color, and the leafs bursting into the bright green color that matched Lily's eyes. School was ending, Hogwarts was left behind, and change was happening almost too quickly for her to comprehend. Something so incredibly permanent in her life, almost as solid as the ground, was pulled out in such speed that she didn't have any time to grab hold of the handle, but, Lily thought, it doesn't matter if she fell, because James Potter will always be there to catch her.

**END**

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